Figure 1.--These green-black Argyle kneesocks were worn with black velvet kneepants as part of a Highland outfit. This was unusual. It was more common to wear them with kilt outfits.

This outfit was worn with green, purple (blue?) and black Argyle kneesocks. We socks are of course named after Argyle, a region of Scotland. We have seen these socks worn with kilts as early as the turn of the 19th century. They may have been worn even earlier. Available paintings and photographs show them being worn with kilts. We have never noted them being worn with kneepants. We suspect they were worn with kneepants because the outfit was for an American boy. American boys in fact generally wore kneepants with long stockings. Available images show the red-black color comination to have been more common than the green-black comination. We doubt is the tartan color clan comination was important as this suit was not worn with a kilt. Perhaps a Scottish reader will know if there is any attemp here to approximate an actual clan tartan. If there had been a family clan connection we suspect that the suit would have been purchased in Scotland and done with a kilt.

Created: 3:10 AM 8/22/2004
Last updated: 3:10 AM 8/22/2004